Birds of Prey
by Hawki
Summary: Null Sector's attack on Paris had changed everything. Not only just the attack itself, but that Overwatch had reformed in light of it. Now, with Null Sector attacks occurring across the globe, and Overwatch responding to them, how would Helix Securities respond? And how would one of its Raptora troopers? Fareeha couldn't say. But she knew that she didn't have long to decide.
1. Initiation

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**Overwatch: Birds of Prey**

**Chapter 1: Initiation**

The air conditioning wasn't working.

She knew that was the least of her problems. She knew that in this part of the world, things got hot, and that she couldn't rely on a power suit to keep her cool. She knew that in a few hours' time, being hot could be made irrelevant, since other means of discomfort could extend to being shot, strangled, burnt alive, crushed, or any other painful way to die. She also knew that if she didn't pay attention during this briefing, she might suffer one of those methods of murder, and not necessarily at the hands of an omnic.

But still, the air conditioning...

"Team One will deploy at this point, assuming that outer defences have been neutralized. Team Two will rendezvous with Team One at Point Hestia. Teams Three and Four will be kept in reserve. All goes well, shouldn't need them, but this is the Army we're talking about."

No-one laughed at Captain Kamal's joke. Looking around, she saw that she wasn't the only one experiencing discomfort. Everyone was sweating. Their skin, their hair, their uniforms, they were all wet with the stuff. No-one had the energy to laugh. Though, if they did, she had a feeling that the response would be muted. Very soon, they'd be shot at, and being shot at meant that you sometimes got hit. When you got hit, sometimes your armour didn't stop the projectile, which resulted in a lot of bleeding, a lot of screaming, and a lot of cursing. Also meant that you might die. Which wasn't good. Not that she had died, but whatever her views on the afterlife, it wasn't something she was keen on experiencing. Not yet at least.

"So," Kamal said. "Any questions?"

She wasn't looking at Kamal. She was looking at the map that was being displayed behind him. Satellite recon of the target site, showing that it was big, well defended, and swarming with the enemy. A picture was worth a thousand words, and despite easily saying over a thousand words in the briefing, Kamal still hadn't captured what the picture told her. That if they went in, things would go bad. And that if they didn't, things would get worse.

"I have a question sir."

She glanced at Sergeant Navaratham. The glance said "don't," but it did her no good.

"What is it Sergeant?" Kamal asked.

Navaratham rose to his feet. "Why now?" he asked. "Why us?"

Kamal didn't look impressed, and she shot her sergeant a look. This time actually whispering "don't."

"We're HSI," Navaratham said. "Helix Security International."

"Duly noted. And?"

"And this isn't security. This is..." Navaratham gestured at the screen. "Well, this isn't what we do."

"Actually, our contract with the government means that it is our job," Kamal said. "We-"

"Contract's nearly up though isn't it?" Navaratham said. He looked around the assembled Raptora teams. "We all know it, right? HSI needs a win. Needs to look all pretty. Need to look like we can actually do our jobs." He began counting down on his fingers. "Grand Mesa. Max-Sec. Temple of Anubis. And now that Overwatch is back, we need to remind the world that we were chosen to replace them for a reason and-"

"Muzzle your dog, Lieutenant," Kamal said, frowning at her.

"Sir. Yes sir." She got to her feet and looked at Navaratham. "Sit down," she said.

Navaratham glared at her, and for a brief moment, she thought that he might throw a punch. Heat made people do funny things, and besides, if he got thrown in the brig, he'd at least be able to miss out on the upcoming assault. Not a common occurance, but her mother had told her stories of her time during the war. Of soldiers who'd given into fear to the extent that they'd do anything to get themselves off the frontline. She didn't doubt that Navaratham was scared. But, as he sat down, she was reminded that Team 1's NCO wasn't a coward. An asshole, sure, not to mention a loudmouth, but not a coward.

"Thank you," Kamal said. She went to sit down but he gave a grunt of "dismissed," and she knew that sitting down was no longer an option. Not when the Raptora troopers got to their feet and began heading for the door, or lingering in the far back. Their faces half in shadow, the other half illuminated by the light of the projector. Glancing around as she remained standing, she could see in their faces what she'd known was there all along - fear.

"Lieutenant?"

Fear she didn't doubt was etched on her face as well, as she saw Captain Kamal gesture to her. She glanced at Navaratham, and he gave her a curt nod, before leading the rest of Team 1 out to the exit. She'd be joining them soon, she reflected. Just not soon enough.

She arrived in front of the captain. He glanced around the room, before looking at her. "Mind telling me what that was about?" he asked.

"Sir?"

"Your sergeant's not keeping his mouth shut."

"Don't worry Captain. When the time comes, Navaratham will-"

"Time's already come and gone. Sergeant voices off, people notice. And when they notice, they might get ideas that they can buck authority as well." He returned his gaze to the podium, flicking his finger over the smartscreen on it.

"He's right though, isn't he?" she murmured. "About the whole public relations thing."

Kamal looked up at her. Behind his glasses, she could see fire in one eye, and ice in another.

"Talon attacks the Temple of Anubis. HSI responds. Collateral damage, casualties, government gets pissed we let it happen at all, and that we couldn't be more accurate with our rockets. Which is why we're taking part in this assault."

Kamal gave a wry smile. "And does that bother you? Considering what's at Point Hestia?"

"Command and control networks."

"And what's controlling those networks? What's giving the commands?"

She didn't say anything, and instead glanced at her fellow Raptora members. Only a few were still in the briefing room, and they didn't give the two COs a second glance. A lieutenant and a captain talking didn't mean much under most circumstances. And if it did mean something, they weren't privy to know.

"Is there a problem, Lieutenant? I imagine after recent events you could be...distracted."

She shook her head. "No sir. Of course not sir. Ready to do the mission sir."

Kamal didn't look convinced. Nevertheless, he gave her a nod. "Get to your unit Amari."

After that, he didn't say anything.

As she exited the room, nor did Fareeha.

* * *

_Damn it's hot._

Lieutenant Fareeha Amari, Team 1, and all of HSI's Raptora teams were walking across the concrete of Mubarak Airfield. It was as far east a position as the Egyptian military had before getting into the Sinai, and even then, that was a place that not many people ventured into. No-one except Bedouin who'd held onto their way of life despite a rapidly changing (and warming) world. Which, given the lack of any significant human presence, meant that it had been the perfect place for Null Sector to carve out a base there. Mostly subterranean, only detected after a brief power spike that had coincided with the omnics' assault on Paris three weeks ago. An assault that had come just before a second assault on Rio de Janeiro, a renewed offensive from the omnics in Siberia, and various other brushfire skirmishes across the globe. The world didn't know if Null Sector had formed alliances with these other omnic groups, but for now, it didn't matter. Null Sector had a presence in the Sinai. Null Sector was operating with impunity inside Egypt's territories, and if it had created its own omnium, could be on its way to overrunning the country within a month. Ergo, a week ago, the president had given the order for an all-out assault. Ergo, three days ago, she'd learnt that HSI would be tagging along. Ergo, a day ago, she'd been briefed as to what was really inside the base's command and control structure designated Point Hestia. Ergo, she was here, at the airfield. Operating with some of the most advanced military technology in the world, while the Egyptian Armed Forces were operating with equipment that belonged back in the first Omnic Crisis.

_But why did it have to be so damn hot?_

_Because you're not wearing a helmet._

She shook the voice in her head aside. It sounded like her mother, whom best she knew, was now in Europe alongside Jack Morrison hunting Reaper. HSI had stumbled in recent times, but it wasn't blind, and if Overwatch wanted to take back the place of global peacekeeper it had been bequeathed by the UN, then it wasn't going to make things easy for them. Years ago, she might have resented HSI for that. As of a few months ago however, she couldn't be sure. Two vigilantes pursuing a terrorist whom, according to rumour, was a former Overwatch member himself. This being while she was in Egypt, who ten years after Anubis had been shut down, was still dealing with the fallout. The world needed heroes, according to the posters she'd had in her old bedroom in Cairo. Now, at the age of 33, she agreed. Problem was, it was hard to find any.

_Except in Paris. And Rio. And-_

She shook the voice away. She was HSI, not Overwatch. HSI wasn't perfect, but it did good work. And, looking at her team, giving them a smile, she was reminded that she had responsibilities. Unlike Ana Amari, she couldn't just gallivant around pursuing shotgun-wielding madmen. No. She, unlike her mother, had a far more important job - shoot omnics, smash omnics, and shoot them after smashing them for good measure.

_And other things._

She quickened her pace, cursing the voice. And the heat. Gods, the heat...it wasn't just her forehead that was sweating, it was her body as well.

"Focus," she whispered. "Just focus. Breathe."

"Talking to yourself L.T.?"

Fareeha glanced back at Corporal Faheer.

"First sign of madness you know."

She gave the woman a small smile, which faded as soon as she returned her gaze to the dropship that would be taking her and Team 1 into the fray. Four repulsors, ECMS, a hull that could withstand even a plasma blast, coupled with external cameras, automatic gun turrets, and all other manner of equipment that was designed to keep the dropship flying and its crew alive. But squinting through the heat-haze of the airfield, she reflected that the Egyptian military wasn't so lucky.

Tanks. IFVs. Mobile artillery. Helicopters, of all things. Ballistic weapons and body armour that would barely accomplish anything. It was material that had been bog standard thirty years ago. It was material that had remained the standard for the military of this country as it had tethered on the edge of collapse. That had been ten years ago, and she still remembered it. The lights going out. Computer networks failing. Automated harvesters grinding to a halt. Anubis could have done worse, she'd told herself. Overwatch had done the right thing, even if her fellow troopers in the Army didn't. But when you lost power and water, when your source of food became an unknown, that line could become hard to swallow. Egypt would survive, one president said after another. Egypt had been the birthplace of one of the world's greatest civilizations, and as low as its sun might be right now, it would see it rise again. Question of when that happened however, and how many people lived to see it? That was another matter.

She didn't know how many people would live to see Ra rise over the Nile again. Just as she didn't know how many people were going to die today. And...She clenched a fist, as she and her team reached the dropship. The doors were open, reminding her of the Gates of Duat. Once they closed, they'd be in a sealed space from which they'd deploy down into the Null Sector base. Swooping down like the birds of prey their suits were named after. Suits that, as she looked back at her squad, were not only multiple colours, but had multiple weapons as well. Rocket launchers. Tesla coils specifically designed to tackle omnics. Navaratham had the most antiquated firearm of the lot, being just that - a firearm. An automatic shotgun to be exact. Nevertheless, she'd seen what he could do with it, and pitied any metal-head who got in his way.

"Good day to die huh?"

Shame that she couldn't get his skills with guns without his 'skills' with a tongue, she reflected.

"Too soon?" he asked, smirking.

She sighed, and looked back at the squad. Private Akhmed looked scared but was trying to hide it. Private Muhamad didn't look like anything, since he already had his helmet on. Corporal Faheer gave her a sympathetic smile before boarding the dropship. Which left Fareeha alone to deal with her NCO.

"Get in the dropship Sergeant," Fareeha said.

"That's not answering my question."

"Not my job to answer your questions, it's my job to tell you how to do your job. So right now, that means..."

She trailed off, despite the punchline she'd intended. There, about twenty-five feet away. Egyptian Army soldiers making their way to one of the helicopters. Special forces by the looks of them, each of them bearing the insignia of the Sa'ka. Their presence wasn't out of place, given what was about to go down. But at the head of them was…

_Oh gods._

She started walking towards them.

"Um, Lieutenant?" Navaratham asked.

"Get on the dropship, Sergeant," she said, quickening her pace. If Navaratham said anything to her, it was lost in the din of engines, blades, and repulsors warming up. That, plus distance, as she walked to the man at the head of the troopers.

_What the hell am I doing?_

She didn't know. Or, rather, she did know, she just didn't know why she was letting herself do this. Because if the man at the head of the squad was the person she thought it was, then things were about to get awkward.

"Sadiq?"

But it was too late. She'd asked him. The man at the head of the Sa'ka squad turned, looked at her, and Fareeha felt both embarrassment and relief. Embarrassment, because the man looking at her now certainly wasn't Sadiq Kasamatis, and relieved, because of the exact same reason.

"Can I help you?" the man asked.

Fareeha shook her head. "No. Sorry. I-"

"Something wrong Lieutenant?"

"No Sir, I..." Fareeha trailed off. The voice had been addressed to the man in front of her, but she'd fallen back into old habits at the drop of a hat. Or, rather, at the sound of a voice. Sadiq's voice. Sadiq, who, as she turned round, was walking over to her.

"Guess you didn't leave the Army completely behind," Sadiq murmured.

There was a smile on his lips, but no mirth behind them. But they were lips that Fareeha found herself focusing on, even as Sadiq gestured to his squad, telling them to head for the helicopter. She was watching the lips move, but not hearing the words come out of them.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Sadiq asked.

Those words, she heard. "Um, yes," she said. She glanced back at the dropship, where she could see Navaratham waiting for her. "Actually, I-"

"Then you should get to it." He walked past her, following his squad.

"Sadiq?" she asked - he kept walking. "Lieutenant Kasamatis?"

"Captain now, actually." He turned and looked at Fareeha, tapping the stars on his uniform. "Usually I leave the fieldwork to Lieutenant Hussein, but desperate times and all that."

Fareeha forced a smile. "Not that desperate. I-"

"Why are you here?" Sadiq asked. She saw him finger the pistol in his belt, and tighten the strap of his rifle over his shoulder.

"Here for the same reason you are," Fareeha murmured.

He snorted. "Helix Security International isn't an army. You think any of us believe that you're doing this for any other reason besides PR?"

Fareeha cleared her throat. "HSI is-"

"Can it. Why are you _here_?" Sadiq asked. "Spend your whole time in the Army thinking it's going to be a stepping stone for Overwatch, and when you lose that option, you jump ship to the next best thing."

"I didn't..." Fareeha paused, choosing her next words carefully. "Sadiq, I know that things got...complicated."

"Not that complicated."

"But all things considered, I think me leaving when I did was best for both of us. I mean, I'm leading a Raptora unit, you're a captain...honestly, think I did us a favour."

"Yeah?" He'd stopped fingering the pistol, but his eyes looked like bullets regardless. "Well, thanks, but I don't need any more of them." He tightened the strap of his rifle even further and headed for the helicopter.

"Sadiq?" Fareeha called out. "After the mission, if you want to..."

She saw him give a motion with his finger. It was moving in circles, signalling the helicopter to take off. But Fareeha knew that it was meant for her as well. And that there was more than one meaning behind it.

"Screw you then," she whispered, turning around and heading back to the dropship. "Screw you."

She gave one last glance at the special forces troopers before reaching the dropship. Back to where Team 1's Raptora troopers were already seated in the hold, or in the case of Navaratham, leaning against the hull, grinning.

"So," he said. "Did Princess Jasmine find her Prince of Persia?"

Fareeha walked past him and made a motion with her finger.

It didn't twirl.

* * *

_A/N_

_So, fun fact, this started out as a oneshot, but it got so long I ended up turning it into a multi-chapter. Go figure._


	2. Retribution

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**Overwatch: Birds of Prey**

**Chapter 2: Retribution**

No-one said anything on the way to the insertion point. No-one had to.

Like the rest of Team 1, she was wearing her helmet, the HUD of which was linked to the dropship's external cameras. Like the rest of Team 1, she was listening to the radio chatter that extended across the battlefield. A picture was worth a thousand words, but when the number of words being exchanged totaled over a thousand? When the words weren't so much words, but shouts, screams, and orders being given under the veneer of control? The whole picture-word equation tended to crumble at that point. Just like the assault.

The words and pictures confirmed the same thing - the assault on the Null Sector base was faltering. Artillery had done what damage it could to the site, as guided missiles would be neutralized before getting into the base's airspace. What had followed was a ground and air assault by the Army, which had come under fire as soon as they'd entered the kill zone. Down below, she could see lines of tanks, launching shell after shell against the omnic base, spread out over the desert like a metallic cancer. She could see IFVs and APCs scattered across the sands, burning in the same way that helicopters and fighter jets were. And while removed from the smell, she could still see the bodies. Some of them human. Some of them robotic. Only problem was, the bodies were still far apart. One hour into the assault, and the Army had failed to establish any significant beachhead.

But maybe it didn't matter. The dropship was sailing through the air at an altitude of 4000 metres. Not completely safe, and certainly not undetectable, but it was where it needed to be. The ping on her HUD told her so. Team 1 was set for insertion. Only it was insertion that would be carried out with far less support than the original plan had assumed. No plan survived contact with the enemy, granted, but when the question of her own survival was at stake...

She shook her head and got to her feet. "Everyone up," she said.

Her own survival wasn't important, she told herself. Team 1 knew what they had to do - disable Null Sector's command and control hub, thus shutting down all their forces in the Sinai. It was the same principle that had granted humanity victory in the Omnic Crisis, and the experts had assured the powers that be that the same principle would hold true now. Given what she knew about her secondary objective, she knew that the experts were correct. Only problem was, she had to get into Point Hestia to make it happen. She, Team 1, and of course, Team 2.

She activated her feed to Kamal, still based at the airfield. "Team One in position Captain."

"Good. You deploy in sixty."

"What's the status of Team Two? Is it the same RV point?"

"Negative on that Lieutenant."

Fareeha frowned. "Sir?"

"Team Two has been redirected to Rally Point Golf. It's our best chance for a beachhead."

"Sir, you can't...you're sending us into the heart of an omnic base."

"Duly noted."

"That's five people. You're sending _five people _into the hornet's nest."

"We are. Army hasn't done its job, and we need to keep the chrome domes busy. Which is why Team Two goes to Point Golf, and you go to Point Hestia."

"Captain, this is..." She bit her lip. "What about Teams Three and Four?"

There was no answer.

"Captain?"

"We're keeping Team Three in reserve, and we've lost contact with Team Four."

Fareeha felt a chill run through her, and not because of the dropship's air conditioning overcompensating. "Lost contact?" she whispered.

"Dropship's gone. No IFF, no radio, nothing."

"If Null Sector can target our dropship, then-"

"Deploy now, Lieutenant, and you won't have to find out."

There was a weight in Kamal's voice that told Fareeha two things. One, he was afraid. Two, he wanted the job done, damn the consequences. Consequences that extended to the hundreds of men and women that were already dead, and consequences that extended to HSI's own Raptora teams. At the very least, he was consistent in his sociopathy.

She looked at her squad. Their faces were hidden behind their visors, and their body language muted by their Raptora suits, but she could tell what they were thinking. Akhmed was terrified, and Muhammad was one step away from going over that same precipice. Faheer looked at her and gave a nod - fear tempered by experience, which included deference to the chain of command, but fear all the same. And finally, Navaratham, who was glaring at her. The Raptora helmets didn't mask the lips after all, and his were curled into a sneer. Her exchange with Kamal had been over an open channel, and the squad had heard what she had. Akhmed, Muhammad, and Faheer knew their place. Navaratham didn't. Or rather, he did; that as the squad's NCO, he was well within his rights to call out bullshit.

"Drop in twenty," Fareeha said.

She could feel the dropship slowing down. The squad each moved to a point in the centre of its bay, where in twenty seconds time, a hole would open up in the floor beneath them. They'd drop down, using their suits' jets to speed up their descent, and at the last moment, halt it. She'd trained for this hundreds of times. The people around her would have trained at least a dozen. Never for a situation like this, granted, but...

"Heads up."

She had to say something. Even if it was B.S., she had to say something. Especially now that all of Team 1 was looking at her.

"Raptora," she said, putting a fist to her chestplate. "Raptora. Raptor. The bird of prey."

"Drop in fifteen," the pilot said.

"Raptora, for we descend from the heavens, our talons out. Raptora, for we soar high, above foe and friend. Raptora."

"Raptora," the squad echoed.

"Deployment in ten."

"Raptora, for we are justice. Raptora, for we are security. Raptora, for we are sword and shield."

"Raptora!"

"Deployment in five," the pilot said.

"We go in fast, we go in hard, we go in first," Fareeha said. "No matter what they throw at us. No matter what happens, we meet on the ground." She slammed her chest again. "Raptora!"

"Raptora!"

"Deploying now."

The chutes opened, and five soldiers in Raptora Mk. VI armour descended down through the clouds below.

* * *

"Two-thousand metres."

"Form up Akhmed."

"God's sake, you seeing this?"

"I have eyes, Sergeant."

"Nineteen-hundred metres!"

Faheer was the one keeping track of their descent, even though she didn't need to. The Raptora suit's HUD gave each team member the distance between them and the ground. And likewise, with its magnification systems, from here, Fareeha could see the Null Sector base clearly.

From above, it didn't look like much - just a cluster of prefab buildings, their iron exteriors coated in dust. But it belied just how far underground the damn thing went. And even without the HUD, she could see the fires ranging. The Army had done a number on the site, even though they were still clustered around its western perimeter. And, highlighted in red, was a tower. Point Hestia. A structure that rose up to the sky like a needle searching for Ra himself. The entrance to the base's command hub, and Team 1's target. Originally Team 2's target as well, before they'd been diverted. Not to mention Team 3 and 4, the latter of which had apparently disappeared.

"Eighteen-hundred metres."

Fareeha adjusted her HUD and brought up her teammates' vitals. All of them had elevated heart rates, but Akhmed and Muhamad were taking the lead. Not only in BPM, but also in getting to the ground first. Muhamad most of all.

"Muhamad, form up," Fareeha said over the comm.

"Working on it, working on it..."

If he was, there was no sign. He wasn't just racing ahead, he was drifting out of formation as well.

"Eighteen-hundred metres."

"Muhamad, form up," Fareeha repeated.

There was no answer, and his BPM was spiking.

"Muhamad?"

Still no answer.

"Private," Navaratham said. "Get back in formation before-"

A red beam of light pierced the air. Shouts, curses, and screams echoed throughout Fareeha's squad, some of them her own, as Muhamad was reduced to ash.

"The hell was that?!"

"Some anti-air defence?!"

"Oh shit. Incoming!"

"Scatter! Scatter!"

Team 1 followed her orders, and just in time, as a second laser cut through the sky. And another. And another. And another after that.

"Think we know what happened to Team Four," Navaratham said. "We...shit!"

Another laser cut through the air, nearly vapourizing the sergeant. Checking her HUD, Fareeha could see that all of their heart rates had spiked. Not that she could blame them.

"Seventeen-hundred metres!"

_Still too high._

A laser cut through the air yet again. Akhmed yelled as it narrowly missed him.

_And still too slow. _She switched her HUD to search mode, and quickly found the source of the lasers. Three turrets, clustered around Hestia, like a cluster of boils. Boils that could kill them.

"Lieutenant, we need a new plan," Navaratham yelled, as he swerved in time to avoid another laser. "A good plan!"

"I..." No words came out.

"Lieutenant, orders!"

Another laser cut through the air, but she barely noticed In activating her HUD's search mode, she'd just been alerted to something else. Null Sector ground forces, closing in on a downed helicopter within their base. Firing at it, and being fired at in turn.

_What's a helicopter doing this far in?_

"Lieutenant, we need a fucking plan!"

"I..." She took a breath. "Team One, on me. Full throttle."

She didn't wait for any of the team to respond as she shot down to the ground, towards the helicopter, and the soldiers defending it. It was over two-hundred metres from Hestia, and burning this much fuel, it would mean a fair bit of ground pounding to get back to the tower. But on the one hand, it would get them away from the lasers, and on the other, allow her to play hero.

'"Lieutenant?" Navaratham asked. "Are you doing what I think you're doing?"

A laser cut through the sky again.

"Lieutenant?"

"We're helping those men. After that, we go to the tower on foot."

"Lieutenant, we-"

"That's an order!"

"Fifteen-hundred metres," Faheer said. "Fourteen-hundred...thirteen-hundred..."

A laser cut close to Fareeha. So close that even through the suit, she could feel its warmth.

"Twelve-hundred...elven-hundred...thousand metres, closing!"

Another laser. Another brush with death. Gritting her teeth, she brought up her suit's default display. Ammunition, fuel, armour integrity. The first and third ratios were in top shape. The second was dropping rapidly. So rapidly that she might have to choose between being vaporized or splattering against the ground. Only...

Only up here, she could see the troops below. Special forces. Outnumbered three to one, their ballistics no match for the omnics' wrist lasers. This wasn't just about her life, she reminded herself, or even the lives of Team 1. It was about their lives. The soldiers' lives. Potentially the lives of everyone in Egypt. And while cold hearted calculus told her one thing...

"Eight-hundred...seven-hundred..."

She traced a finger across her helmet. Where her udjat was. A symbol of protection, for herself, and those around her. Getting to Point Hestia and saving those soldiers weren't mutually exclusive, she told herself.

"Six-hundred..."

"Lieutenant, pull up," Navaratham said. "Pull up!"

She increased her speed of descent.

"God's sake Lieutenant, you don't have the fuel!"

Her fuel gauge was telling her the same thing. But she had to get down there.

"Five-hundred..."

_Lasers' stopped. Guess we're too low._

"Four-hundred."

"Lieutenant, pull up."

"Three-hundred."

The soldiers were still fighting. The omnics were still firing.

"Two-hundred."

"Amari, pull up!"

"One-hundred, closing!"

"Raptora," Fareeha whispered. "Raptora!"

Thirty metres from the ground, she adjusted her body, going feet first rather than face first. The G forces crushed her chest and stifled her yell. She could feel her muscles screaming, her bones aching. But the jets did their job, and activating her suit's shoulder-missiles, so did they. Justice rained from above, and scraps of metal went flying across the desert sands.

If it had been just her performing the maneuver, she knew that it would amount to naught - too many omnics, not enough missiles. But if she was the tip of the spear, then the shaft was still plenty good to swing with, and touching down on the sand around her, Team 1's Raptora troopers got to work. Navaratham firing his shotgun, felling an omnic with every blast. Faheer using her Tesla cannon to launch orbs of energy, before finishing off any stragglers with lightning streams from the same device Akhmed with his chain-gun, ripping and tearing like something out of a videogame. And she herself, getting her rocket launcher out. Firing one RPG after another, finishing the job the missiles had started. That, in addition to the ballistics fired by the special forces troopers, so that within the minute, all that was left of the attacking omnics was scrap metal.

Fareeha stood there, her finger still pulling the trigger. The empty clicks told her that her weapon was empty, as did her HUD. Not that she lacked additional rounds, and if worst came to it, she had wrist-missiles as well. But none of these facts registered in her mind, as the highs and lows of combat continued to war within her body. Even here, far from the perimeter, she could hear the constant sound of explosions and gunfire.

"Lieutenant?"

Her mother had told her about the war. How at times, even she stopped being a sniper, and just a trooper with a big gun who fired at any target she could get a bead on.

"Lieutenant."

She looked at Corporal Faheer. Her Tesla gun was cooling down, its barrel glowing red, and the bands of sweat she could see around her mouth told her that Faheer was cooling down as well. Or at least trying to.

"Think we got 'em."

Fareeha smiled, but lost it in an instant. There was still the matter of the troopers. Some of them were dead. More of them were wounded. All of them looked exhausted. Beholding their faces, seeing the sweat, the dirt, the blood, she also saw the look in their eyes. Gratitude and guilt mixed together. What had they been doing here, this far in? The plan had been that the Army would keep Null Sector busy while HSI would destroy the omnics' command and control network. Some mess up in planning? Or...She bit her lip. Or were they exactly where they were meant to be?

"Lieutenant Amari?"

She looked at one of the men approaching her, and recognizing his face, her eyes widened. "Lieutenant Hussein?"

He nodded. "Wish it could be under better circumstances," he said. "We were-"

"Yeah, about that," said Navaratham, walking up to the trooper. "The hell you doing here anyway? Thought you boys were on the perimeter."

Hussein's eyes narrowed. "Believe it or not, an attack on Null Sector isn't just throwing men at the enemy and hoping them to break."

"Yeah, but since there isn't any talking gorillas, cyborg ninjas, or flying robots around, forgive me if I'm not-"

Fareeha held up her hand, and to her gratitude, Navaratham fell silent. She looked back at Hussein. "Look," she said. "You're alive. Most of my team's alive, and some of your men are alive, so I guess there's a victory to be had here. Which means that..." She trailed off. "Where's Sadiq?" she whispered.

"Ma'am?" Hussein asked.

"Captain Khan. Where is he? I understood he was deploying with you."

Hussein lowered his gaze, before murmuring, "right now, I'm in command of this unit and..."

"Lieutenant, tell me where Sadiq Khan is. Now."

Hussein looked up at her, and she knew immediately. Knew even before he said, "he's in the helicopter."

Her body was moving faster than her mind as she made her way to the wreckage. It wasn't going to fly again, but that didn't matter. Machines could be replaced. People couldn't. Its side hatch was open, and as she approached, she could see him. Sadiq. Leaning against the side of the helicopter's interior. His forehead was soaked with blood, and he was barely breathing. Nevertheless, as if by divine providence, his eyes opened as she approached. And seeing her, he smiled.

"Hello, Lieutenant..."

She'd have smiled if there wasn't a large shard of metal wedged through the side of his chest.

"Don't think I…can say much right now..."

She dropped her rocket launcher and crawled into the wreckage. She grabbed his right hand with her left, and with her right, rested it against the wound. His uniform was stained with blood. She could smell it as well. A smell that she'd been introduced to well over a decade ago, and one she'd never forget.

"Don't tell me...you're crying..."

This time, she did smile, and tapped her helmet. "How can you tell?"

"Know you...well..."

Fareeha stifled a sob, and took off her helmet. Sadiq smiled. "Told...you..."

She took her right hand off his chest, and joined it with her left. He didn't have much time. And removing the shard would only reduce the minutes of life he had left.

"What were you doing here?" Fareeha whispered. "What...gods, what the hell were you doing here?"

"Same reason...you..." He coughed, and blood splattered out of his mouth, staining his uniform. Staining her hands. His eyes met her. "Fareeha..."

"Don't," she whispered. "Don't talk. Omnics have been destroyed We'll get a ship in, patch you up, and-"

"Don't...lie..." Sadiq whispered. "No more...lies..."

"Hey, I'm not lying," she said, managing to force a smile, even as her throat quivered. "I mean, it's the twenty-first century, not the Dark Ages. We get you to a hospital, some pretty nurse gives you a sponge bath, and-"

"Know you're...lying..." Sadiq rasped. He looked at her...truly looked at her...and in his eyes, Fareeha saw fear and contempt alike. "Mission...lie...same mission..."

His hands fell.

"Sadiq?" She asked. "Sadiq?"

He just lay there.

"Sadiq, hang in there, okay?" She tried to brush away a tear, but the damn helmet was in the way. "Sadiq?"

He remained silent, barely breathing.

"Captain Khan?" she whispered.

He opened an eye, and with his hand, beckoned her to come close. She obliged, even if her own eyes were blinded by the liquid coming out of them. Closer...ever so close...until he whispered something...

Even through the helmet, she heard it.

The last words of Sadiq Khan, before he finally died.


	3. Deception

.

**Overwatch: Birds of Prey**

**Chapter 3: Deception**

She was glad she had the helmet on as she exited the helicopter. Like it or not, she was the person that everyone was looking up to. Certainly all of the troopers that were here. Troopers sent to die for a mission that had only the slightest chance of success. She tried to avoid their gazes before she turned her own to Lieutenant Hussein.

"Captain's dead," she whispered. She tried to force a smile. "Guess you're in command now."

Hussein had the decency to remain silent as he lowered his head and nodded. Even as she walked past him to the rest of her squad.

"Well," said Navaratham. "That was a nice waste of time. But now that we're done with the waterworks, can we-"

Fareeha punched him.

Navaratham yelled as he fell to the ground. He scrambled up to his feet, yelling, spitting, and trying to punch her back. An endeavor he only failed at thanks to Akhmed, who held the sergeant back. Fareeha, for her part, just stood there. Daring her sergeant to strike her. On the verge of welcoming it.

"Okay, that's enough!" Faheer stepped in, putting a hand against Navaratham's chest. "Enough!"

Navaratham broke free of Akhmed's grasp, but didn't attack Fareeha. His mouth moved, his arm waved, his fist clenched, but nothing happened.

"Enough, alright?" Faheer said. "We're all on the same side, okay?"

Fareeha snorted - same side, she reflected. Evidently that wasn't the case, given that the troopers were here and hadn't told HIS about it. Given what Sadiq had told her. Not to mention what she'd known before even first stepping into the briefing room and thinking about the lack of air conditioning.

"You know I'm reporting this," Navaratham spat.

"Go ahead," Fareeha murmured. "I won't stop you."

Navaratham looked like he wanted to say something, not to mention do something that likely included a fist of his own. But while he raised his hand to do that thing, he instead put it up as a palm with the other one, and turned around.

"Okay," Faheer said. She looked at her commander. "So, what now?"

_What now indeed? _Fareeha glanced at the Army unit, before turning back to her squad and laying it out. "Akhmed, stay with the troopers. I don't know when a ship will be able to come for them, but if the omnics attack, they'll need heavy firepower."

"Just me ma'am?"

"No. Team Four's going to deploy here as well."

Navaratham snorted. "Right, sure. If Captain Kamal gives you-"

"Pharah, calling Kamal," she said, turning around and walking over to the lieutenant. "Requesting deployment of Raptora Team Four on my location. Got a downed Army chopper here, plus wounded. Advise they hold ground here until Null Sector command and control is disabled."

There was a burst of static, followed by a burst of expletive, before Kamal actually said, "the hell you playing at lieutenant?"

"Army's playing the same game we are captain. Figure we change the game a bit."

"By diverting a Raptora team."

"Shit's going down after this, sir. You might want some Samaritan points."

"Or you. Though maybe you already got them" There was a pause, before Kamal said, "fine. But get you and your squad to Point Hestia. Shut it down and retrieve the target."

"Yes sir. Pharah out." She looked at Hussein. "Cavalry's coming lieutenant."

He bowed his head. "Thank you."

"Thank me by looking after your men." She turned around and gestured to her sergeant and corporal. "Come on. We're moving out."

"Really," Navaratham grunted. "By ground or air?"

Fareeha checked her suit's remaining fuel and sighed. "Ground."

* * *

_We were after the same thing you are. And we're not the only ones. Someone in HSI...transmissions...they know. Everyone knows. Fareeha, I...be careful._

She was zoning out, and she didn't even care. All that she saw was Sadiq's face, as his life faded away before her eyes. All she heard were his final words - whispered into her ear, forever doomed to be his epitaph. What was left of Team 1 was proceeding towards Point Hestia, easily dispatching any omnic that got in their way, but it meant nothing to her. Sadiq was dead. Muhamad was dead. Hundreds of soldiers were already dead, and by the time the sun set, that figure could well exceed a thousand. That the interior of the Null Sector base was so lightly defended was testament to how the Army was doing its job...and, she thought, as saw laser fire come her way, perhaps the only reason she was still alive.

Navaratham and Faheer made short work of the omnics in question. Given the way Navaratham looked at her afterwards however, the sneer visible on his lips beneath his helmet, she wouldn't have been surprised if he'd turned his weapon on her.

"You still with us lieutenant?"

In a way, she'd welcome it. Nevertheless, she gestured to the tower. "Come on."

The tower didn't look that impressive, considering what was inside it. Still, if this was Ali Baba's cave, the blast doors told her that they'd need more than a sesame seed to get in. Fareeha gave them a quick look, then the panel. "This could take awhile."

"I've got it." Faheer fiddled with her Tesla. "I can cut right through."

Fareeha nodded and looked at her sergeant. "Stay on lookout."

Navaratham looked at her. "Who am I looking out for lieutenant? Omnics? Or soldiers in places where they shouldn't be?"

"Those are quite a few questions sergeant. They paying you extra to flap your tongue around?"

The sergeant grimaced. "Think you'd know a thing or two about tongues, Amari."

"Lookout. Now."

"Yes ma'am. Of course ma'am. Continuing to be a whipping cushion ma'am." He clutched his shotgun and shot up into the air, getting a vantage position.

_Someone in HSI...transmissions...they know. _

The transmissions she could explain...unless Sadiq was referring to transmissions not being sent by her. If there was someone else within HSI who was contacting an outside source when she shouldn't be. She leant back against the wall and re-counted her rocket rounds, trying and failing to keep her mind on the task. Sadiq's face still filled her mind. Her ears picked up the constant rat-tat-tat of small arms fire and the occasional explosion. The sheep marching to the slaughter so that the wolves could get over the fence and snatch Null Sector's baby from the crib.

_Someone else knew, _she reflected. _They were there, and they were shot down, and they...Sadiq, he..._She ran a hand down the side of her helmet. She'd lost people before, she told herself. The Temple of Anubis. Her mother. Most of her father's family. But Ana Amari had come back to this world, and her father was at least still alive, and perfectly healthy. People like Sadiq Khan didn't come back from helicopter crashes.

"Lieutenant?"

She looked down at Faheer. The corporal's Tesla was pointed in one direction, but her head was pointed in another.

"You okay?"

Fareeha took a breath and managed to force a smile. "Fine."

"Right." Faheer paused, before adding, "if I may say so ma'am, you don't sound fine."

"Still better than Sa...soldiers."

Faheer looked back at her. "Anything you want to talk about?"

"No."

Faheer chuckled. "This about the mission? Trust me ma'am, it's going to take awhile to cut through this door. And it might be better to get it out now then let it weigh you down on the inside."

Fareeha smiled, and this time, it wasn't forced. "You're a good soldier Faheer."

"Just doing my job lieutenant."

"No. It's more than that. Frankly, I think you've got what it takes to go beyond corporal. Gods know I need a better sergeant." She leant back against the wall of the tower. "But you're right."

"About what?"

"That...that I'm not fine. That I…that I've been reconsidering a few life choices I've made over the years."

"Those choices go back to the Army?" Faheer murmured.

Fareeha might have told Faheer to know her place and focus on her job, if the corporal hadn't shown herself to be a person she could rely on and confide in. Instead, she began to speak.

"Captain Khan and I…we knew each other, back in the Army. I mean, we weren't in the same unit or anything - he was special forces, I was just a grunt. But we met, we did our jobs, and after hours, we..."

She trailed off. Faheer was looking at her, a grin on her lips.

"We did nothing untoward," Fareeha said truthfully. "Walks. Coffee. That sort of thing."

"Yes ma'am. Of course."

"I mean, the Army was only ever going to be a stepping stone for me," Fareeha murmured. "He knew that. When he found out, I thought he'd hate me for it, but if anything, he seemed in awe. Even after Anubis was shut down...he believed in its ideals. Truth, justice, security, that sort of thing. Even after the Venice Incident, and all the crap that followed, he didn't stop believing. Heck, I think _I _might have stopped believing if it wasn't for him. And..." She trailed off and began to flex her fingers. Staring at the cold blue metal of the Raptora Mk. VI. At the blood and dust that still coated them.

"But that didn't happen," Faheer murmured. "Overwatch got shut down and you ended up in HSI."

"Yeah. I did. I figured that if I couldn't join the world's premier peacekeeping force, I'd join its self-appointed successor. And besides, it couldn't go on. Fraternization rules exist for a reason, and, well…"

She was rubbing her hands together. The sound of battle had been drowned out, and all that remained was the feeling within her. The warmth that spread from her stomach to her chest, and even below it. That jittery feeling that gave her an image of beetles, or butterflies, depending as to which of her parents were telling her about love. As a child, she'd been entranced with their stories. As an adult, it had felt like the beetles were eating her alive. Always keeping herself one step away from first base. Always reminding herself that if she and Sadiq crossed that line, they'd be thrown off the pitch.

"So fraternization rules are a thing," Faheer continued. "I don't get it. You HSI, him Army...there's no rule against that."

Fareeha gave a snort. "You don't know Sadiq. I mean...well, technically I don't _know _him anymore, but..." She took a breath. The warmth in her body had gone, replaced by a chill that was spreading to her eyes. "Man of principle, you know. Said I was selling out by going to HSI. I told him that Overwatch was gone. He told me that didn't matter. I told him that I had to face reality, and that we were getting too close. He told me..."

"Told you what?"

"Not sure. He was shouting something and I was trying not to listen."

Faheer snorted, which was just as well. It covered up the sound of her superior's sob.

"Course it doesn't matter anymore," Fareeha said, talking to herself as much as the corporal. "He's dead. It's over. I don't jeopardize his career by my mere presence, and he doesn't...he doesn't..."

Faheer looked at her. "Timing sucks, right? Meet him on the day he dies, doing some shady shit."

"Excuse me?"

"I mean, why's he and his team even in this airspace? Make no sense." She turned her gaze back to the door. "No goddamn sense."

"No," Fareeha murmured, hoping Faheer would swallow her lie. "It doesn't."

"He say anything?"

She shook her head. "No."

"Hmm." She got to her feet and looked at her superior. "Well, maybe it doesn't matter. We're in."

Fareeha looked at the circular, human-sized scar Faheer had created in the blast door. "Doesn't look like we're in."

Faheer kicked it open. "Now we are."

* * *

Getting into the tower had been easy. Navaratham had been called down, the three Raptora troopers had crawled in, and a corridor later, been met by omnics. Rockets, shells, and lightning had made short work of the robots. Easily enough to give Fareeha further time to think. To accept that the Army was after the same thing she was. That Sadiq had been briefed, and that she'd known what her secondary objective was. If that was the end of it, she'd have been able to take the time to reflect that his opinion of her must have fallen even further since they'd parted ways. But if he was right, if someone knew about what Null Sector had created here...

She found herself giving glances to her two troopers, wondering if she should fight the paranoia gripping her or examine it. Faheer was managing to hold it together - in a way, she reminded Fareeha of herself. Young, naive, not yet exposed to all the shady shit that HSI could get up to. She didn't doubt she'd make a good sergeant, or even a CO, but for that to happen she had to keep her alive. Faheer had a good heart, she told herself. Good enough that she'd spent time holding her hand outside Hestia Point. All she had to do now was keep that heart beating.

Navaratham though? She'd worked with him before, but had never seen him like this. He was agitated. Constantly questioning her, yet pushing them onto the objective. It could have been combat nerves, she told herself. Or it could have been something else...

_Gods help me, I'm losing it. _She put a fist to her chest, under which her dog tags hung, displaying her faith of the Old Egyptian gods. _Thoth help me I'm losing it._

Interesting times. That's what the news anchors kept saying. Omnics in Russia and South Korea. Null Sector re-emerging. Talon re-emerging. Overwatch of all things re-emerging. Investigations into Vishkar. Even Lucheng Interstellar for its old moon colony. As a child, the world had seemed so simple - good guys, bad guys, good guys beating bad guys and looking awesome while doing so. Good guys who looked likeCommander Jack Morrison, and good girls who looked like her mother. Nowadays, it was all grey, no matter how shiny her armour was. But was that due to a changing world? Or was it the way the world had always been?

She blasted a trio of omnics and a fourth one after that before reloading her rocket launcher. Good, bad, or grey, it didn't matter she told herself. Null Sector was a threat to every man, woman, and child in Egypt, and even beyond. Null Sector had to be stopped. Their command and control network had to be shut down, and as soon as possible, because every wasted second meant a wasted life. And if she had to do some shady shit after that, then that still paled in comparison to the good she'd have done today.

Or at least she told herself that, as the trio of Raptora troopers made their way into the command hub. A few omnics were there, and a few seconds later, they weren't. Not that it stopped Navaratham shooting one of their broken bodies twice for good measure.

"And stay down," he grunted.

Fareeha glanced at him. "Want a third shell sergeant? Just to make sure."

"That an order?" he asked.

The two of them stood there for a moment. Fareeha could see him fingering his shotgun, which bothered her nearly as much as the knowledge that she was fingering her rocket launcher. Nevertheless, she turned away and headed to one of the room's terminals.

"Come on," she said.

The command hub was in the shape of a giant cylinder. Terminals covered all of its walls bar the door they'd entered it through. Her mother had told her about the omniums she'd shut down during the Crisis, and by those stories alone, Fareeha was getting a sense of déjà vu. It wasn't quite the same - the technology had advanced thirty years after all - but form was secondary to function. And the function of this place was the same as the command protocols that had directed the omnics against their human masters. Create, destroy, keep creating to keep destroying until every fleshy biped was wiped off the face of the planet. Having seen, read, and listened to Null Sector's recent declarations, Fareeha knew that of all the things that had changed, the genocidal motivations of some omnics weren't among them.

Of course, she reflected, as she approached one of the terminals, the omnics had to learn how to commit genocide from somewhere...

"So this is simple, right?" Faheer asked.

Fareeha nodded as she drew out some cords from her left gauntlet, a small pad from her belt, and plugged them into the terminal's outlet. "Finest minds at HSI have devised a program that will shut down the command and control protocols. All I have to do is jack it in and hope it works."

"Right. And if it doesn't work?"

Fareeha inserted the cord. "Smash everything I guess."

Navaratham walked over. "Mind telling me why you're the only one with that interface?"

"I do mind, actually. And you should be keeping an eye on our exfil point."

Navaratham grunted and turned around, not seeing Fareeha give him a glance. He was fingering his shotgun, and she couldn't shake the sense of dread that he was going to use it. But as the terminal shut down, as the lights went out...

_We did it._

Maybe it didn't matter. She looked around in the gloom, the only source of illumination being the chest lights of their Raptora suits, before emergency lighting came on. The entire room was illuminated in a blood-red glow, clashing with the blue of her armour.

"Team One, come in, over."

She activated her radio, answering Captain Kamal. "Team One, reporting."

"Null Sector's collapsing. You did it."

She glanced back at the terminal. "Not yet, sir."

"Duly noted. Carry out your secondary objective. Team Four will rendezvous with you outside."

"That's good Sir, I…the soldiers. Are they...?"

"Alive. Though there's going to be some questions after this, let me tell you."

"Noted. Pharah out."

She deactivated the radio and withdrew the pad. It was such a little thing, she reflected. So unobtrusive. It gave no sign that this little doohickey represented the most advanced quantum computing in the world, and had enough storage to contain even the most sophisticated of AIs.

"So," Navaratham said, turning round from the door. "This where we bug out?"

Fareeha nodded. "You and Faheer go to the exit. I'll follow up."

Navaratham didn't move. Faheer gave both of her superiors uneasy looks.

"That's an order sergeant."

Navaratham didn't budge.

"Sergeant, that's an order."

"Order for what?" he asked. "What's going on?"

"I just...need a moment."

"A moment," he snorted. "Sure, lieutenant. You're a great Raptora trooper, I'll give you that, but you're a terrible liar."

Fareeha didn't speak. In part because of the sergeant's words. In part because as the centre of the floor opened up, she knew it was too late to hide what was about to happen.

It was cold comfort that the doohickey had done its job, not only shutting down Null Sector's command protocols, but exposing the project they'd been working on. Because as the three of them stepped back, as the floor opened, and a giant cylinder emerged from the pit, she knew it was too late. Faheer and Navaratham had seen. Which meant she'd have to explain things to them. She'd hoped that she'd be able to avoid that, even if Kamal and the people who outranked him hadn't cared. They were HSI. HSI was loyal to its own. HSI had a chain of command, which meant that she was going to do this without question, and her subordinates were going to let it happen without question as well. And if she had a problem with that, then that was on her. Not them.

The cylinder stopped rising, and the floor stopped receding - plenty of room to walk on, but plenty of room to fall as well. But what had caught the attention of all six eyes in the room was the cylinder itself. It was black, like a monolith from an old sci-fi movie. But unlike that movie (and its awful remake in 2056), the cylinder was not only not a giant rectangle, but was blinking with lights of all colours. Like a vertical rainbow, tempting them with a pot of gold at the end of it. Or, potentially, billions of dollars. Not that HSI was going to sell it of course. What they had in mind was far more mercenary.

"Lieutenant," Navaratham whispered, "what is this?"

She decided to come clean, and walked up to the cylinder. "This is Osiris."

"Osiris?"

"A codename applied by HSI to Null Sector's secret project," Fareeha whispered. "Something that would have exceeded any CnC protocol they had here. Something more dangerous than an entire army. Something that you or I might know as a god program."

She couldn't see Navaratham's face because of the gloom. Not even when he took off his helmet and dropped it beside him with a thud. But given the way the red lights reflected off his face, she could imagine the red that was within his eyes.

"A god program," he whispered. "Like Anubis?"

"Even greater than Anubis." She took a breath. "Osiris is second generation. Osiris is a sleeping baby, but when it wakes up, it'll be the most powerful artificial intelligence ever created. Osiris is the singularity - AI creating AI. And..." She turned away, and took off her own helmet as well. "HSI wants Osiris."

"After Anubis," Navaratham whispered. "After that shit at the temple – the shit you _stopped_, by the way – they want another one?" He rubbed his head. "God's sake, they still want to play with fire?!"

"Yes," Fareeha said, trying to fight the tightness in her chest. "Osiris is something they can mould themselves, without needing ten layers of security to keep it contained. And we were sent here to retrieve it."

"Not we," Navaratham said. "You."

She looked back at the sergeant. He was clutching his shotgun like a drowning man might a plank of wood. "Yes," she whispered. "Me. Me, and Sadiq, and-"

"We all get sent here to die so that scientists can play around with a god program." He spat at her. "Don't pin that on us, lieutenant." He looked at Faheer. "Did you know?"

Faheer shook her head. She was still wearing her helmet, but Fareeha could imagine the horror in her eyes. And worse, the hurt. Biting her lip, she began extending the cord of the pad so it could enter an interface within the core. For a moment, she felt like an ape of millennia past - surviving in the wastelands of Africa before being blessed by higher intelligence. But then, she reflected, that wasn't the case. She wasn't an ape. She was a human. Her brain was an organic supercomputer, more advanced than all but the most powerful AIs, and capable of repair. She was a member of the most intelligent species that had ever graced planet Earth. And unlike the apes, she knew what this monolith represented. What the incubating program could do if it ever got out.

"This won't take long," Fareeha whispered.

"Take long?" Navaratham loaded the shotgun. "Fuck this, it's not happening at all."

Fareeha grit her teeth. "That's an order sergeant."

The shotgun clicked. "Stand down, lieutenant."

Fareeha looked at Navaratham, the weapon he had pointed at her, then back at him. "Stand down," she whispered.

"Lieutenant, God knows I don't like you, but if this gets out, God, or Allah, or your Egyptian pantheon won't be able to do anything to save us."

"I said stand down."

"Lieutenant, you know this. And you're better than this."

"I said stand down!"

"Sadiq died for this. You take out Osiris, you validate the actions of the sociopaths who sent you, and me, and him, to die."

Fareeha rose her rocket launcher. "Stand. Down."

_We were after the same thing you are. And we're not the only ones. Someone in HSI...transmissions...they know. Everyone knows. Fareeha, I...be careful._

"Step aside lieutenant."

"Sergeant, you're not getting Osiris."

"The hell?"

"I know what you're after," Fareeha said. "You've been second guessing me at every turn. You're pointing a gun at me."

"Damn right I'm pointing a gun at you! You're about to point a gun at the head of the world."

It was true, she reflected. She might not have her finger on the trigger, but she was the one handing over the weapon. But if Navaratham wanted Osiris for himself, or whoever he worked for...she fingered her rocket launcher's trigger.

"My gun's bigger," she whispered, before glancing at Navaratham's shotgun. "You want to take that risk?"

"Well, only one way to-"

Navaratham never finished the sentence as a projectile hit him. He screamed, and it echoed throughout the chamber. Fareeha watched as his body went flying back from the projectile. A projectile that she hadn't fired. A projectile that had come from...

She turned around. "Faheer?" she whispered.

The corporal fired again, hitting Fareeha. She screamed as well as her body was sent flying through the air, hitting her head on the wall.

For a moment, she saw red light.

After that, darkness.


	4. Destruction

.

**Overwatch: Birds of Prey**

**Chapter 4: Destruction**

_I'm alive._

She didn't know how long she'd been unconscious. Hours, minutes, maybe seconds. But she was alive. That had to count for something. Opening her eyes, she peered through the gloom. Navaratham's body was nearby, lying limply on the ground, his shotgun beside him, and the smell of burnt flesh and armour coming from within him. In the centre of the room was the monolith, towering over everything, the god inside it still sleeping. And there, between her and it, like an angel at the gates of Heaven, was Faheer. Her Tesla cannon's barrel glowing a brighter red than the emergency lights. And the angel's helmet tossed to the ground, before walking over to Sergeant Navaratham.

"Faheer," Fareeha whispered.

The woman gave Navaratham's body a nudge with her boot. He didn't move. Nor did Fareeha, try as she might. Her suit had gone dead, and was weighing her body down. Not to mention the feeling of a broken rib cage.

"Finally," Faheer murmured, before giving Navaratham a final kick. "Thought he'd never shut up."

"Faheer," Fareeha whispered. The corporal turned to look at her. "What are you-"

Faheer gave her superior's chest a kick as well, right where the Tesla shot had impacted her. Fareeha screamed, as the armour slammed against her chest, and the broken ribs under it.

"I needed that," Faheer murmured. "You're as bad as Navaratham you know? Christ, you bicker like a married couple. Or bick_ered_, I guess."

Fareeha couldn't speak, so tight was her chest. Just breathing had become a challenge. But not thinking. Not as she recalled Sadiq's words. Transmissions, someone else knowing about Osiris...the person had been right in front of her the whole time, and she'd been hung up on Navaratham. The one person who'd been willing to do the right thing, damn the consequences.

"You know, for what it's worth, you should be dead," Faheer said. She walked over to the Tesla, picked it up, checked something, then dropped it again. "Still, I had to use a lot of energy to shut that moron up. You got a lesser blast."

"You piece of-"

"Save it lieutenant, I imagine your chest is hurting like crazy." She glanced at Fareeha and smiled. "You can stay and watch the show if you like."

"What?" Fareeha whispered.

Faheer picked up the pad and examined it next to another pad that she'd taken from her old belt. She snorted. "I'll let Talon decide who has the edge. HSI is incompetent, but they're not bereft of some eggheads with actual yolk."

Fareeha's eyes widened. "Talon," she whispered. "You work...for Talon?"

Faheer put her own pad on the ground and pushed a button. "See for yourself."

A hologram appeared in the room. A figure with a black hood, and a black robe. The darkness of his clothing melded into the darkness of the room, but the red lighting gave him a sense of presence. But even without it, Fareeha knew who she was looking at.

"You're late," the man said to Faheer.

The Reaper. Talon's hitman. The deadliest mercenary in the world. The one who'd broken Akande Ogundimu out of HSI's maximum security prison, and more recently, led its assault on the Temple of Anubis. Where the Reaper trod, bodies followed. And even here, faced with only a hologram of him, Fareeha felt sweat trickle down her neck.

"I had complications," Faheer said.

"What kind?"

She nodded towards Fareeha. "See for yourself."

Fareeha involuntarily tried to crawl back. She couldn't, as her armour was still in lockdown. The hologram of the Reaper was looking at her. Behind the mask, behind the holes where his eyes should be, she could see...nothing. No flesh. No soul. Nothing.

"Fareeha," he murmured. "My, how you've grown."

She didn't feel grown right now. She felt like a child. A scared, cowering child, looking up at her closet door expecting a monster to come out of it.

The Reaper looked at Faheer. "Kill her before you're done here." He then looked back at Fareeha. "You'll be in Hell before your mother. I'm sure she'll send her regards."

The hologram winked out, but Fareeha didn't feel any better for it. The fear remained. The pain remained. And above all, the shame. She'd cowered like an alley cat from a dog. And even if she wasn't responsible for Faheer's actions, she'd helped pave the way for the woman to get this far.

"Guess he doesn't like you," Faheer murmured. She picked up the pad, walked over to the cylinder, and activated her jump jets. Before long, she'd found an outlet, and rested the pad on the ground. In a shorter amount of time, she was walking back to Fareeha, whose eyes widened as she saw the corporal take out a knife from her belt. She tried to move, but all she accomplished was her limbs squirming against her armour. Maybe the suit was completely disabled, maybe it was rebooting - without her helmet, she couldn't tell. But it might come to nothing if that knife reached her throat.

"Faheer, please..."

The corporal smirked. "Begging. Really?"

"You don't have to do this."

A flicker of fear registered in Faheer's eyes, before she murmured, "actually, I do."

Fareeha saw an advantage, slight as it was. "Is Talon threatening you? I can help. HSI can help. The..." She trailed off - Faheer was laughing.

"Help," Faheer said. She began walking back and forth, weaving the blade between her fingers. "You know the shady shit HSI gets up to better than most of us lieutenant. You think they're going to help a Talon mole?" She shook her head. "No. And besides, me killing you? It's only orders. Reaper says kill someone, I ask how many bullets." She squatted down in front of Fareeha, dangling the knife in front of her. "Or blades."

No words came from Fareeha's throat. She wanted to say "just one," to give at least some defiance, but she couldn't manage it. Her chest was screaming, her throat was burning, and her neck and hair were drenched with sweat. Even more so, when Faheer placed the blade under her right eye.

"Nice tattoo," she whispered. "Could use some work though."

It was an udjat. The Eye of Horus. A symbol of protection. Once, she'd thought it meant her own protection. Later, after she'd prevented Anubis from escaping containment, she realized it had meant that she was destined to protect those under her command. But today, she'd failed. And no-one could protect her as Faheer cut through skin and ink under her eye. She grit her teeth as the blood flowed onto the ground, fighting the urge to scream.

"How...long...?"

Though she could talk.

Faheer stopped cutting. "What?"

"How long have you been with Talon?" Fareeha whispered.

"Long enough." Faheer got to her feet. "World's changing. HSI knows it, Talon knows it. Only we're the birds of prey here, and you?" She gave Fareeha's leg a kick. "You're just scavengers."

Fareeha was barely paying attention. Something was up with the Osiris core. The lights were flashing, and the core was beginning to rotate.

"Speaking of which, I better get on with the job and-"

"Faheer, something's wrong."

The mole laughed. "Course there is."

"No. With the core." Fareeha tried to raise her right arm, but the armour still refused to budge. "Check the core."

"Yeah, right. I turn around and, what? You get the drop on me?"

"Faheer, check the damn core!" She rose her right arm and pointed at it. "Osiris is waking up. If we don't contain it, then we're all going to die and..." She trailed off.

Her right arm. It was pointing at the core. Which meant her armour was functional.

Faheer looked at the core, then looked at Fareeha. Just in time to see the Raptora trooper prime a micro-missile and point it right at her.

"Lieutenant, don't!"

She fired.

At such close range, the blast hit both women. Faheer was sent flying backwards, while Fareeha was slammed against the wall. She screamed, as her chest was subjected to even more abuse, as well as her head, as it slammed against the wall. Her vision winked in and out. She tasted blood upon her tongue. She lay there, watching the red lights above. Watching the core rotate, ever faster. Feeling her body beg het to slow down. To sleep. To finally rest. To sleep, while Osiris awoke, let loose upon the world like an angry god.

_Tired._

Gritting her teeth, she struggled to get to her feet.

_Gods, I'm so tired._

She stifled a yell as her ribs brushed against her chest. As the blood of Faheer's cut mingled with her sweat and tears.

_Just want to rest._

But she couldn't. Not now. Not when she was finally at her feet. Not as Faheer had got to her feet as well. Her armour was blemished, but the micro-missiles were kinetic rather than explosive. By themselves, they couldn't take down a Raptora suit. Though as Faheer stumbled towards her, blind to the horror she'd unleashed in the AI behind her, it was clear that the missile had done damage.

"You...filthy...miserable...piece of..."

Fareeha fired the second missile. Moving at a speed that belied her suit's damage, Faheer stepped aside, the missile smashing some terminals. Fareeha stumbled backwards, barely able to stand, as she saw Faheer advance on her, the knife drawn.

"Nowhere to fly, Pharah. No jets. No feet. No gun."

Fareeha took a step back.

"I'm going to kill you. I'm going to contain Osiris. And I hope the Devil gives you a front row seat, because the world is going to change, and keep changing after you're gone."

Fareeha took another step back, thinking of that change. Of the horrors Talon would unleash. A world that Osiris would be quite at home in. Gritting her teeth, she took yet another step back...and felt her ankle brush against something.

_The shotgun._

Navaratham was dead. Maybe his legacy wasn't.

"Time to die, lieutenant." Faheer, picking up the pace, was only a few feet away.

"No," Fareeha said.

Faheer stopped walking. Fareeha had picked up Navaratham's shotgun.

"I'm not dying today," Fareeha whispered. She closed her eyes, knowing what was about to come. She opened them, and whispered, "Raptora."

She fired. Even pressing the shotgun against her shoulder, the force of impact shot through her body, and through her chest. But as much pain as it caused her, that was nothing compared to Faheer as the buckshot hit her armour. Causing her to stumble back with the shot.

And the next.

And the next.

And the next.

With every shot, an impact. With every shot, a scream from its wielder. Pain. Rage. The names Muhamad, Navaratham, and Sadiq upon her lips. Shot after shot, hitting its target, driving her towards the core. Two mortals, fighting in the shadow of a looming god. Osiris might not be awake yet, but it might not have mattered. Perhaps it beheld the brutality of Man before it. Perhaps, if it was released upon the world, it would justify its own horrors. Just as all the god programs had before it. Perhaps...perhaps...

Fareeha grit her teeth and pulled the trigger. This time, there was no shot. The weapon was empty. Faheer, right at the edge of the cylinder, was still standing. Battered. Bruised. But alive. And given the look in her eyes, obsessed solely with taking the life of her foe.

She had no knife. But looking aside, she rushed to grab the Tesla cannon. Yelling, Fareeha dropped the shotgun, and using the last of her jets' fuel, shot forward. The impact sent the two women sprawling. The impact made Fareeha cry out in pain. And, as they both grabbed the Tesla, grab out in anger.

**"Why won't you just fucking die?!"**

A stream of energy came out of the weapon's barrel as they wrestled for control. Terminals detonated. Scorch marks appeared on the walls. The lightning danced, and the two of them yelled like thunder. Until Faheer kicked Fareeha down and pointed the Tesla gun at her.

She didn't say anything. Maybe she had nothing to say. Maybe, as she pulled the trigger, she realized that she'd overloaded the weapon. Or maybe she realized what Fareeha had. That she'd landed right next to where she'd originally been shot. Where she'd dropped her rocket launcher when that blast had hit her. Maybe it didn't matter. Because whatever the case, Fareeha Amari grabbed the weapon and pointed it at the corporal.

"Oh-"

Fareeha fired. The rocket hit Faheer. She screamed as the blast tore into her armour and sent her flying back. Right into Osiris's core. Mankind had touched the monolith, and seeing the lights change, Fareeha knew that the intelligence in this thing had noticed. And probably not for the better. After all, it had been created by Null Sector for a reason. HSI had wanted it for a similar reason. And maybe it was too late to stop any of it.

_Gods I'm so tired._

The ground tempted her to lie there and let event progressed. But she could see the systems core. She could see Faheer begin to fall. She could see the terror in her eyes. And in spite of everything...

She jumped, hand outstretched. Grabbing Faheer's at the edge of the silo. Yelling, as she fought the pain in her chest. She was holding up at Raptora Mk. VI with one hand...and it was killing her.

"Fareeha..."

The lieutenant could see the drop beneath Faheer - it was a drop that would kill her. Groaning, she tried to pull her up, but couldn't manage it. Her right arm was holding up a power armoured soldier. And her left had gone dead.

"Fareeha, let me go."

"No," the lieutenant whispered through grit teeth. "You don't get the easy route."

"Fareeha, look."

"You're going to answer for what you did and-"

"The core! Look!"

In spite of everything, Fareeha looked up. The core's lights weren't flashing anymore. They were almost all green, and the red ones were slowly following suit.

"Fareeha, it's too late," Faheer whispered.

She looked down at the corporal. The traitor. The mole. She looked down, and saw the face of a person at peace.

"Let me go."

"Your jetpack..."

"It isn't working. The impact busted it." She slipped, and let out a cry. Fareeha too, as she struggled to hold Faheer aloft. As she looked up at the core and watched it slow down. The last of the reds turning to green.

"If Osiris gets out, we all lose," Faheer whispered. "You. Me. Everyone. You have to destroy it."

Fareeha shook her head.

"It's the only way. And you know it's the right thing."

There were only a few lights left.

"Fareeha."

She tried to pull Faheer up, but couldn't. She was just too heavy. And she just wasn't strong enough.

"Pharah."

She stopped trying and started listening. Started looking. Beheld Faheer's smile.

"Save the world."

Faheer's hand slipped out of Faheera's. She fell in silence, down into the gloom of the core. Out of sight, but not out of mind. Oblivious to Fareeha's yell of anguish. For Faheer's death, despite all she'd done. For her failure to save her, as she'd failed to save so many. And for what she knew had to be done now. What had to be done the moment she'd arrived in Hestia Point. The thing Overwatch would have done. The thing that was simply...the right thing...

Only a few lights were red now. Fighting the pain, the exhaustion, the grief, Fareeha dived back to her rocket launcher and pointed it at the core. Pointed, aimed, and hesitated...

She could see Muhamad, before he was blown out of the sky.

She could see Navaratham, as he'd stood for what was right until the lightning.

She could see Sadiq, smiling, loving and loathing her until the end.

She could see Faheer, falling, hating and respecting her both.

She closed her eyes, and could see the world. 9 billion people, unaware of what was about to happen.

**Osiris activated.**

Of what might have already happened.

**Osiris activated.**

She opened her eyes, and offered her own voice to the awakening. "Raptora," she whispered.

**Osiris act-**

She pulled the trigger. The rocket sailed through the air, hitting the core. Like a lightning bolt destroying Mount Olympus itself. The core detonated, shards of metal flying in all directions.

And with them, the fire.


	5. Redemption

.

**Overwatch: Birds of Prey**

**Chapter 5: Redemption**

It was two weeks before Captain Kamal saw her in the infirmary.

In his defence, she'd spent a good part of the first week unconscious. She'd briefly return to the waking world, find a man or woman in white above her, try to speak, and then be reduced to slumber. As if she had one foot in the Nile, but as dark as the night was, Nut would never let her cross it. But even so, two weeks. Two weeks of skin grafts to repair her face. Two weeks of shallow breathing as her ribs slowly healed. Two weeks of catching bits and pieces of news from the flatscreen and the doctors' gossip, one day of writing a report and handing it off to a private, before finally, the good captain came to see her. Standing over her bed wearing his uniform, and looking none too happy about, well, anything.

"Well, lieutenant. You're looking slightly less deformed."

There was a chill in the room, and it wasn't just because some handyman had finally got the air conditioning working. That she gave him an icy stare as he walked in didn't account for it either. She could tell as soon as Kamal walked in that this wasn't a visit that he was making out of charity.

"Still prettier than you," she murmured.

"Hmm." He pulled up a seat and sat down next to the bed. "Well. Least that tattoo is gone. So there's that. Now you just need to cut your hair to regulation length."

Involuntarily, Fareeha ran a finger under her right eye. The Eye of Horus was gone, as was the skin it had originally been branded onto. She withdrew the finger quickly though - her skin was still raw to touch. The armour had protected her body from the detonation of Osiris's core, but without a helmet, well...

"I read your report," Kamal said. "Might need to go over a few things."

"Like what? That we had a Talon agent in HSI and no-one knew?"

"That..." Kamal looked around furtively, before returning his gaze to her. "...and other circumstances."

"Like how the Egyptian Army..." She trailed off. She knew the game. The walls had ears, no-one could be trusted, and this debriefing was too informal to get to the stuff that actually mattered. Which begged the question as to why Captain Kamal was actually here. Certainly it wasn't out of charity.

"So what's happening?" Fareeha asked. "I mean, beyond this place."

Kamal grunted. "Don't you watch the news Amari?"

"Course I do. What of it?"

Kamal gave her a smile. "Well," he said, "as I'm sure you're aware, the strike on Null Sector was a big success. Army's got its mojo back, president's offered his thanks, Null Sector is in retreat on three continents."

"You know that can't be attributed just to us, right?"

"Given that we took out a base that could have overrun the entire region if we hadn't acted? Yes, I think we can."

"Right," Fareeha murmured. "So now that you've regurgitated everything I saw on the news, why don't you tell me what's actually going on? In fact, why don't you tell me why you're actually here?" She sat up straight against her pillow, even as her ribs begged her to stop moving. "Go on."

Kamal paused - the black bra she was wearing under her hospital dress shone through the white quite visibly, especially now. But he at least had the dignity to get up, look away, and put his hands in his pockets as he began to speak. "Real story is that the president's pissed, my superiors are pissed, and reports are that Null Sector and Talon are pissed, not to mention the omnics in Siberia and the East China Sea. Right now, there's so much piss that I bet you could grow a garden in the Sinai with it."

Fareeha smiled.

"And most of all, I'm pissed with you." The smile faded, and Kamal looked back at her. "You attempted a rescue of special forces troopers who had no business being there. You lost almost your entire squad. You had a Talon agent under your nose the whole time, and worst of all, you failed to retrieve Osiris."

"Who let Faheer in?" Fareeha snapped. "Who assigned her to the team?"

"That's not the point, Amari."

"Isn't it? Because I-"

"Point is, I think you're lying. I think when you write a report claiming that the Osiris core was destroyed in the crossfire between you and Faheer, you're writing bullshit. We analyzed the wreckage; the only sign of damage is from a rocket."

Fareeha shrugged. "I beat Faheer. Never said I hit all the time."

"Right. Of course." Kamal tried to smile, but it looked more like he was swallowing a toad. "Or, alternatively, you hit the target you wanted to, because you got cold feet."

She glared at him. "You read the report, didn't you?" she whispered.

"Course I did."

"That Osiris self-activated."

"Yes. And?"

"And?" She rubbed her chest, and not just for the physical pain. "You have any idea what a god program could do if it got out into the world?"

"Course I do. That's why the Temple of Anubis is sealed, and we gave you the most advanced quantum micro-computer HSI has ever developed so we could have our own god program to tinker with."

"And yet, you only gave it to me," Fareeha whispered. "And I'm wondering, was that for confidentiality? Or conscience?"

Kamal swallowed the proverbial toad and gave her an honest to gods smile. "People like us, Amari? We don't get to worry about our conscience."

Fareeha turned aside and rested her fist on the pillow. "I'm nothing like you."

"Really? Well, we'll see. Just have a month or so in these stars, see how you like it."

"Excuse me?"

She didn't have to move Instead, Kamal walked over and put something on the bed. Something that bore three gold stars.

"Congratulations, _Captain_."

Fareeha looked up at him, her eyes wide.

"Not from me, you understand. But there's people who think you've earned it. Or, at least, that you're the best person for the job. After the operation, we're going to need more Raptora troopers, and someone to train them."

"That's nice," Fareeha murmured, taking the captain's insignia in her hands. Rubbing the cold metal between her fingers, before closing a fist around them.

"Not nice, Amari. It isn't charity."

"No, I mean, it's nice that they think I'm still part of HSI." She looked up at Kamal. "Almost nice that you think that as well."

Kamal's face remained impassive, as he murmured, "conscience or captaincy, Amari. From what the doctors tell me, you have three days to figure it out." He walked round the bed and headed for the door.

"What if I didn't have to choose?" She rolled over, fighting the pain, and saw Kamal look back at her. "What if I could do both?"

Kamal frowned. "Don't believe everything you hear on the news Amari. HSI? We're still the top dogs in the game."

Fareeha didn't say anything. She just lay back on the bed, listening to the sound of Kamal's footsteps get ever further away. Fingering the bars between her hands, before putting it back on the table, and lying back in the bed.

She couldn't sleep. She couldn't cry. She could only lie there.

Silent.

* * *

Come night, she was still awake. And still silent.

The full moon was shining through the infirmary window. She hadn't moved to close the curtains, nor requested an orderly to do so. It was as if her body was glued to the bed, unwilling to move in a world where so little was actually real - least the ideals espoused by its people. And in a way, she welcomed it. She welcomed that the moon's light was keeping her awake. She welcomed that there was still beauty in this world, even if that beauty was above all the ugliness that plagued it. An ugliness that no matter what channel she flicked on, she was reminded of. Egypt. Brazil. France. Russia. And that was only the ugliness that appeared on the surface, where the war against Null Sector continued. As Faheer had reminded her, the ugliness beneath the surface could be far more dangerous.

And yet Faheer had done the right thing. Sort of. Rubbing her eyes, Fareeha could see Faheer's face in her mind. Often, it was Sadiq's that haunted her dreams these last two weeks. When she turned over and grabbed the mattress, yearning for the warmth of human comfort, it was his body that he imagined beside hers. But this time, it was Faheer. Faheer, the corporal. Faheer, the Talon agent. Faheer, the traitor.

_Only we're the birds of prey here, and you? You're just scavengers._

Faheer, the one who spoke the truth.

_Pharah. Save the world._

"Shades of grey," Fareeha murmured. "All just shades of grey."

One day, if she met her, she'd ask her mother when she'd come to that realization herself. Perhaps the elder Amari could tell her if the world had ever been different. But that was far in the future, and low on her list of priorities. Her mother had taken her time in revealing to her that she'd survived Poland. She was under no obligation to respond in a shorter amount of time. And besides, the message her mother had sent her was untraceable.

Fareeha grit her teeth and got up, sitting on the edge of the bed as she eyed the drawer beside it. Untraceable. She'd so hoped that she'd managed the same, and maybe, she had.

_HSI...transmissions...they know._

At the time, she'd assumed he was referring to her own transmissions. And heck, maybe he had been. But all things considered, Faheer was the more likely candidate. Or so Fareeha hoped as she pulled out the top drawer and picked out her datapad, so kindly delivered to her quarters by one of the orderlies. Activating it, and entering the password, she hoped that in all the commotion, no-one had bothered to check this little doohickey. Or if they had, that they'd found the backdoor program she'd installed. A program that she promptly went to through a backdoor link, and typed, _/RUN SEQUENCE_

She cast a glance at the captain's bars as she waited for a response. She still had a choice, she reminded herself. HSI wasn't perfect. It never had been, and after today, she knew it would be a long time before they even came close to moving to perfect. But even so, in this world, where madmen sought to burn it down and mad machines sought to remake it in their image, you could do a lot worse than Helix Securities International.

_CONNECTION ESTABLISHED_

But, she reminded herself, as the Overwatch icon appeared on the screen, you could do a lot better as well.

_CLEOPATRA?_

She smiled, seeing her codename, before responding. _STILL ALIVE. BARELY._

_AND HSI?_

She frowned. _SUSPICIOUS. _She paused, before typing, _BUT I'M READY TO LEAVE._

There was a long wait before the response came. Long enough for Fareeha to look around. HSI might be picking up these transmissions right now. Troops could come bursting through this door at any moment and give her something mcuh worse than broken ribs and a burnt face. A face that she ran her finger down again. Telling herself that in time, the udjat could come back.

_YOU SURE?_

She frowned. _SURER THAN EVER._

_GOOD. BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND, IF YOU DO THIS, THERE'S NO COMING BACK. IT'S A LONG FIGHT._

_BUT NOT ONE YOU'RE FIGHTING ALONE._

_NO. NOT ALONE. SO. ARE YOU WITH US?_

Fareeha "Pharah" Amari closed her eyes. Remembering Sadiq. Muhamad. Navaratham. Faheer. Those who were no longer in this world, for good or ill. Those, like her mother and father, who still were. Those, whose fates could be determined by what she and the world did over the next few months. By their actions. Their choices.

_YES I AM._

And she'd made her choice now.

_GOOD. WE'LL BE IN TOUCH._

Just like the choice she made to terminate the feed. A far larger choice, granted. But a choice all the same.

She put the pad back in the drawer and lay back on the bed. Watching the light of the moon through the curtains. Giving silent prayer and thanks to the gods of old, before finally closing her eyes.

Before finding peaceful slumber.

**The End**

* * *

_A/N_

_So, that's that. Thanks to the people who reviewed. Or, technically, person..._

_Anyway, by way of shameless plugging, I have another _Overwatch _story on my "to write" list titled _Alive_. As its name suggests, it's a novelization of the animated short of the same name. However, my main writing focus right now is a _Firefly _story titled _All the World's a Stage_. Those who have followed me over the last 2-3 years are probably sick of hearing that, as there's been a number of stories like this that I've posted (as in, oneshots that ended up becoming multi-chapters), but I'm on the home stretch now. Also, that brings me into another issue that I might as well announce now._

_So, there's this little thing called Coronavirus going around. Because of that, I'm on leave from work, and will be for at least 3 weeks. Practically speaking, that means that there's going to be far fewer oneshots from me in the immediate future as I'll be using less public transport, where I write the majority of oneshots that I do. There's a strong chance that this period will go on much longer than 3 weeks, but if there's a thing to take away from this, basically expect a slowdown of material from me going forward. At least in terms of the oneshot kind._

_Anyway, stay healthy, stay safe._


End file.
